Hey, Merry Wynter here. I've been thinking about this a lot lately; sometimes you make friends in the most unexpected ways! Isn't that true?

Here's what made me think of that today; for a very special wedding at Wynter Castle, one of my gifts to the bride is going to be her wedding favors. Weddings can get expensive, and they don't want to spend a lot. The venue is my castle in upstate New York, so that's free, but there are always more expenses than you think there are going to be. I remember my wedding ten years ago... but that's another story, one that ended in tragedy, as some of you know.

Anyway... I was talking to my friend Gogi Grace, and when I asked her what she thought I should do for wedding favors she mentioned unique heart shaped teacups, with tea that was blended specially for the bride and groom. She and some girlfriends had gone on a day trip to a town called Gracious Grove, not too far from here near the Finger Lakes, and came away with the tearoom's own blend of tea, done up in cute packages with the tearoom's name - Auntie Rose's Victorian Tea House - on the packaging.

Maybe I could have the same thing done with the bride and groom's names and date of the wedding on it. What a great idea! Anyway, I got the phone number and made a call to the tearoom to find out who their tea source was, and had an interesting conversation with a young woman working there who is also 'Auntie Rose's' granddaughter, Sophie Taylor. After we talked about her tearoom, the tea, and a lot of other things, we discovered that we had both recently been too close to a murder and had to do a little investigating on our own.

We had other things in common, too. We've both most recently lived in New York. And we both have a man in our lives that we just can't figure out. In her case it is an old flame, a teenage love who she hurt many years ago. Now she can't figure out how he feels about her. She's afraid to dig too deep in case he wants nothing more to do with her beyond friendship, tho' her feelings have reawakened.

I explained about the handsome Sheriff Virgil Grace, and my own confusion over whether I was ready for a new love when I still feel like I'm in love with my late husband, Miguel.

"So what are you going to do, Merry?" Sophie asked. "How do you handle it when you're just not sure?"

I wished I had a solid answer for her. "I guess I'm going to go forward with caution. At least in your case you know he once felt deeply for you. With Virgil I just don't know how he feels."

"It's worse, in a way, for me," Sophie said. "We had something special and I hurt him. He might be so far over me there's nothing left."

Thanks to Karen Owen for the lovely photo!

"Aren't we a couple of sad sisters," I said, with a laugh. "I think you should just talk to him, acknowledge what you did, explain how young and confused you were, and ask if there's any hope."

"Easy for you to say! I think you should confront Virgil, tell him you know there is something between you, and ask him out for coffee."

"Or tea?" I asked. We both laughed. "And then there is the whole murder investigation thing," I added. "He thinks I'm a bit interfering."

"Sounds like you and I are cut from the same cloth, as my Nana would say," Sophie said. "Let's talk again in a few months and find out what we've done about our love lives. That's barring any more trouble like murders happening."

"That's not likely to happen again," I said. "Autumn Vale is a small town! Yet another murder would just be too big a coincidence."

"Gracious Grove is smallish, too. You're right. It's not going to happen again, so we can get on with business and our love lives."

And that's where we left it. She's going to try to figure out how Jason Murphy feels about her after a dozen years apart, and I've promised I'm going to tackle Virgil Grace... perhaps quite literally. He makes my cheeks get warm and my heart beat faster. I'm nervous, though. I'm not used to making the first move. Any ladies out there who made the first move on the man they loved? How'd it turn out? And gentlemen... did a lady ever tell you outright how she felt? Did you like it?

I'm just not sure how to go about it, and would appreciate any suggestions you may have.

~::~

Calling all cozy mystery readers!!

It is the Cozy Days of Summer Killer Characters giveaway!! And I have a SUPER prize package for you! Comment before midnight to enter to win a super package that includes Tempest in a Teapot, Muffin But Murder, AND Bran New Death, book 1 of the Merry Muffin Mysteries! You'll get one Cozy Up to a Good Mystery book tote, a pen, and a handcrafted bookmark in every package, a little bonus!!Please Note: for the purpose of today's drawing ONLY, entries can come from both the US and Canada!

96 comments:

What a great conversation! Wouldn't a cross-over be fun? Anyway, I'd say it's fine for the woman to broach the subject. Especially with all the murders happening, you never know how much time you'll have, so don't waste it! :-)

I found dating to be a difficult time and most guys didn't seem to want the lady to be first in telling them how they felt. Of course, guys are hard to read. What one guy doesn't like, another guy does, so who knows. Looking forward to reading t his new series. dbahn@iw.net

My husband and I were pen pals while he was deployed for Desert Storm. I say that I asked him out first and he says he asked me out. What I really think happened is that our letters asking the other one passed each other in the mail. :) We've been together ever since then. Love the muffin series and the tea shop series is on my TBR list. I agree with someone else who said a crossover book would fun.

My husband and I met through mutual friends at a wedding. Turned out that we have a lot of mutual friends, so we double dated a lot. I wish I had a suggestion for you, but I don't. Love the book crossover!!

A great post. I love that one of Karen Owen's photos was used! She uses them on her blog and they are always so beautifully done! I love all of Victoria Hamilton's books. And that of course includes Amanada Cooper.

Thank you KC blog for a great summers giveaway! I am in love with the tote! lisaksbookreview@aol.com

Great post - I love the heart shaped teacup and the specially blended tea as a party favor idea for a wedding - or really any party - would be great for a bridal shower or even a baby shower - Thanks for the great giveaway

What a great giveaway! Love the books offered. As for the dating suggestions, my husband asked me out first and I refused. Months later after some thought, I asked him out and we've been married over 16 years. Worked out well in the end!

The man I was interested in happened to be my friend's good friend. When I met him I let my friend know that I liked him and he relayed the message. Well, he felt the same about me. What was the result? We're married 20 years in September!! Life's too short to let a good thing pass you by. If you are interested in someone you should find a tactful way to let the person know. And, I LOVE the heart shaped teacup. I wish I'd thought of that for my own wedding favors.

What a wonderful giveaway! My husband and I met when I went to work where he already worked. We were friends for 4 years before we decided to go out. So, I can honestly say that I married my best friend. We got married 2 years after we started dating and have now been married for 10 years. I never thought that I would be so happy. (I am in my 50's and he is in his 60's). So proud to be his wife. :)

I can't wait to read these! Hope I win (fingers and toes are crossed) :)

I was the first to tell my husband I loved him... but I waited for him to ask me to marry him. ;-) We've been happily married for almost 24 years.

The heart-shaped teacup is precious - where on earth did you find it? And the conversation between your two heroines is delightful - as are both characters. I agree with an early comment: a crossover mystery could be a lot of fun.

What an opportunity to read from a great selection of books. Photos on site are a bonus I enjoy. Do not like posting email address publicly as results in huge amounts of spam but know only way to get in winning line. laughlincat@gmail.com

I claim that I made the first move because I invited him to my 13th birthday party and he claims he made the first move because he invited me to go bike riding the next morning (hey, we were young!). Whichever, it worked. We had kind of a force field around each other in high school - the young, possessive mine, mine, mine. Kind of morphed into a more adult mine. We just celebrated our 45th anniversary in June. 3 children, 5 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren with 2 more on the way.

What a great prize package. Thanks for the opportunity to win.sallycootie@gmail.com

Thanks for this tea giveaway which is close to my heart since tea is my daily drink all year long. Soothing, calming, warm and wonderful.Perfect and ideal prize. Many thanks. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

I am a huge fan of Merry! So looking forward to reading her next adventure. Clearly judging from the conversation, Tempest in a Teapot is next! Would love to win the goodies!! BTW, huge fan of the Vintage Kitchen series.

I enjoyed the conversation and ideas for bridal favors - especially the heart shaped teacups and a special blend to reflect the relationship of the bride and groom. What a unique idea! This is a wonderful giveaway. Good luck to everyone and congratulations to the eventual winner!

I'm loving the Vintage Kitchen series and both the Merry Muffin series and the Teapot Collector series are pretty high on my TBR list. I have a feeling I'll be loving them as much as Vintage Kitchen. Thanks for doing this awesome giveaway.

Well, hubby and I met at work, he initially asked me out but was a slow mover so I usually did the calling and asking out, after about 6 months I gave the ultimatum that he either step up and take a little more initiative or take a hike and here we are 26 years later...yes, he stepped it up, LOL.momzillasteel at gmail dot com

Maybe I'm no one to ask.I tried to make a first move on one fellow who immediately gave me a lecture on bacon; he had just gotten a job as a bacon inspector...that was almost the most interesting except...I did tell my one male friend that we were under mistletoe.(we actually were), and that landed me the kiss of a lifetime. He's the one I married...after a couple of separations of feelings and geography.It was a long road but we are nearing our 32nd wedding anniversary.

I don't drink tea, but recently attended a baby shower with an Alice in Wonderland theme. They had wonderful decorations, including lining the center of the long tables with teapots. My sister and her 3 1/2 year old granddaughter had a wonderful time pretending to drink tea!

Purchased BRAN NEW DEATH from Amazon and loved it. Pre-ordered MUFFIN BUT MURDER so it was delivered as soon as released, but I haven't been able to get to it to read yet. :(

Should I win this prize package, I would certainly share those 2 books with my daughter &/or a reading friend -- I'm not willing to loan them my original copies ye ( lol ). And I would love to read TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT.

We have been married for more than 40 years now. I don't really remember who made the first move, but I am pretty sure he did. He asked me to clean his apartment, and paid me, and after I was done we went to a movie. I have been cleaning for him ever since. ;-)

Wow, would love to win this prize package!!! I met my husband when we worked at the same bank. There's an 11 year difference between us & he thought I was too young for him, so I had to do the pursuing. I didn't drive & he went in the general direction of my house, so I was constantly asking him for a ride home. Then I got the idea (from my Mother) to send him a funny valentine. Anyway, he finally asked me out in April or May & got married in November of that same year! We've been married 43 years!

I'm very old school when it comes to making the first move...I believe a guy should ask a girl out not the other way around. Sounds sexist, but it's not, just old fashioned. Thanks for the great giveaway. I'm a huge tea drinker and look forward to reading your tea series and the other ones.

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